A Warriors Death
by Azecreth
Summary: All good things had to end. And for her, that time had come. A short drabble. Set in the future depicted in "The Last Man". Character death alert.


**A/N: Another of those things that popped into my mind, so I put it down in this short drabble. Maybe I'm trying to increase my exposure or something. I don't know. Character death ahoy. This is set in the alternate future depicted in "The Last Man"**

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**All rights to MGM, I own nothing.**

My name is Colonel Samantha Carter, US Air Force, Stargate Command, Commander of the Atlantis Expedition, and I am about to die.

We jumped into this system based on intel we had received that Michael was going to attack this world. Turns ut, our intel was wrong. Michael already had Hive Ships there waiting for us, and when we arrived they cut loose with everything they had. We brought up shields fast, but it wasn't enough. By the time we had recovered, the beam weapons were offline. And with them gone, we had no chance. I managed to beam the crew to the surface of the planet, but another barrage of Wraith blasts took out the transporters, so I was stuck. For once in my life, there were no other options. The dice had come up snake eyes at last, despite what Jack always says about there always being another option. This time there wasn't. I set the ship on a collision course with one of the Hive, and wait.

When did everything start to go wrong? Maybe this was just the way things had to be, and I was just the one who got to feel the pinch of everything that happened. But it didn't start going wrong until after Sheppard had vanished. And then as if Sheppard was the vital support holding them up, things had started falling apart. We found Teyla, killed by Michael. Michael perfected his hybrids and united the Wraith and was wiping out the humans in Pegasus with the Hoffan drug. Ronan left the Expedition to create a guerrilla army against the Wraith. Things had gone to hell, and I don't know why. But I suppose it doesn't matter in the end.

As consoles explode around me and sparks fly, I think back on my life. An Air Force brat, followed in my dads footsteps, until that fateful day I joined the Stargate Program. Now I've save the world more times than I can count, initiated first contact with numerous alien races, found love and lost it, killed System Lords, developed some of the greatest technological advancements of this century, traveled in time, helped an enslaved people get freedom, destroyed the Replicators (Milky Way and Pegasus versions), have seen Ascended beings, among many of my more notable achievements. But now its time to write the epilogue on the story of my life. But I'm not angry about it. I've had enough experiences to fill a lifetime, and I have nothing to be ashamed of.

I close my eyes. As I do, I can see the reactions of the people I love and care about when they hear the news. Jack will try to act strong, the commanding General ever to the end, but in private he'll break down. Cry, yell, break things, drink. Like he did when Daniel died of radiation poisoning. Only unlike Daniel, I won't be coming back. Cameron will openly weep, as will Daniel. Teal'c won't show his emotions like that, but you will hear the sadness in his voice, and he will mourn in his own way.

I brace for the impact. I will be gone, lost here in the Pegasus Galaxy. I will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, at a funeral attended by everyone who knows about the Program. It will be like when Doctor Frasier died, another little piece torn off the fabric that makes up the SGC, leaving a hole that can never be filled, and a memory that will never be forgotten. Full military honors of course. There will be a picture in the middle of a large placement of flowers. My casket will have an American flag draped over it, and it will join all the others buried there. Maybe it will be raining, maybe not. But it will be buried in the ground, an empty casket, as my body is incinerated by the flames.

The _Phoenix_ collides with the Wraith Hive Ship. I can feel the metal of the ship hold for a brief second, then collapse under the strain. And as fire engulfs me and this, my legacy, I allow myself to smile, a real smile that I haven't had in what feels like forever, one last time. And, as strange as it may sound, I think I hear my dads voice. "Welcome home, Sam."


End file.
